The Buried Pyramid (also called the Pyramid of Sekhemkhet) is an unfinished step pyramid constructed c. 2645 BC for Sekhemkhet Djoserty. This pharaoh was the second of the Third Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, which reigned over Egypt circa 2686–2613 BC and is usually placed at the beginning of Egypt’s Old Kingdom. Many historians believe the third dynasty was essential in transitioning from the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt to the Age of the Pyramids.
Sekhemkhet Djoserty was also the successor to the better-known pharaoh Djoser, buried in his famous step pyramid at Saqqara. The buried pyramid was initially modelled after Djoser’s step pyramid and is located several hundred metres southwest. It is also arguable that the pyramid of Sekhemkhet was initially designed to surpass the step pyramid of Djoser but barely made it above ground level and hence was given the name the Buried Pyramid. Its incompletion is thought to have been due to Sekhemkhet’s short reign as ruler, approximately six years.
The pyramid may be visited, but the public cannot access the base and substructures.
Location of the Pyramid of Sekhemkhet
The unfinished pyramid of Sekhemkhet is located just southwest of the pyramid of Unas at Saqqara.
History
The Buried Pyramid was a previously unknown structure until, in 1951, Egyptologist Zakaria Goneim noticed the odd rectangular shape in the desert while excavating the nearby Unas complex. A three-part rubble-coursed enclosure wall was first discovered, and by digging to its bottom, it was found to be 5.2 m (17 ft) tall and 18 m (60 ft) thick. He later discovered that the wall extended on both sides to dimensions of 520 m (1,700 ft) on the north-south axis and 180 m (600 ft) to the east-west and was full of false doors and niches.
The pyramid was located at the centre of the complex, with a base length of 115 m (377 ft). It had only one step and was unfinished. During the next stage of excavation, Goneim discovered a descending passage to the north side, which led to a gallery blocked with rubble and masonry. Several objects were found during the excavation of this gallery, including animal bones, demotic papyri, and Third Dynasty stone vessels. Gold was discovered in a decayed wooden casket, including gold bracelets, cosmetic cases, beads, and jars inscribed with Sekhemkhet’s name.
When the blocked wall was breached on May 31, 1954, an unfinished and undecorated burial chamber was discovered. Inside it lay an alabaster sarcophagus cut from a single block with a vertical lid that seemed still sealed. However, on June 26, 1954, after great difficulties in unblocking and raising the lid, the sarcophagus was opened, and to everyone’s disappointment, it was empty.
Criticism of Goneim and his subsequent apparent suicide on January 12, 1959, dampened the interest in the pyramid, and the investigation was left incomplete.
In 1963, the excavation was re-opened by Jean-Philippe Lauer due to the possibility of a south tomb and his desire to find the missing mummy. Lauer found a partially destroyed tomb under the southern side that, at some point, had been looted by robbers. He found a wooden coffin with the remains of an unidentified two-year-old child and gold leaf fragments.
The complex
Sekhemkhet’s pyramid complex was built southwest of Djoser’s at Saqqara, and it includes a pyramid, a subterranean structure, and a necropolis complex.
The name Imhotep appears on a section of the complex’s enclosure wall. The name contains no titles, and thus, it is uncertain if this is the same architect that planned Djoser’s Step Pyramid. The line of succession and similar architectural features suggest such a possibility.
Pyramid
The ancient name of Sekhemkhet’s pyramid is unknown; however, it is colloquially known as Buried Pyramid due to its unfinished nature and being previously unknown until its discovery in 1952, when it was found beneath the sands. Its present state is more similar to a mastaba, only reaching a height of 2.43 m (8 ft). The pyramid’s foundations stand upon an uneven rock surface, leading the builders to try to level the terrain by building terraces, some reaching ten metres high.
The pyramid was to be stepped right from its inception. With a base 115 metres (377 ft) in length, it suggests that, if it had been completed, the superstructure would be taller than its neighbour, with seven steps and rising to 70 metres (230 ft).
As the pyramid was unfinished, it never received its limestone casing. However, the construction technique can still be made out: the limestone blocks are inclined inwards by 15°, with sloping courses of a stone at right angles to the incline.
Substructure
The entrance to the underground structure lies to the north, starting with a narrow passage that descends for about 61 m (200 ft) until meeting a vertical shaft from the top of the corridor. Another passage leads down to a row of 136 unfinished galleries at this spot, which forms a U shape around the pyramid. Two further magazine galleries with a similar disposition appear right before the entrance to the burial chamber. Like their counterparts, they were never finished.
The burial chamber has a base measurement of 8.8 m × 5.18 m (28.9 ft × 17.0 ft) and 45 m (148 ft). It was also left unfinished, yet it contained a complete burial arrangement. The sarcophagus is cut from a single block of fine alabaster; its vertical lid is slid into place and held at the front face utilizing mortar sealing.
Necropolis complex
The complex is oriented with a north-south axis but an accuracy deviation of about 11°. One notable feature of this complex is an inner wall known as the “White Wall”, made out of limestone covered with red mason’s lines and graffiti.
Whether Sekhemkhet’s complex would include any mortuary temples or other features found in Djoser’s complex remains unknown. Its unfinished state presents a difficulty for such conjectures.
The actual entrance to the complex is unknown.
South Tomb
In 1963, J. P. Lauer found the foundations of the so-called South, offset from the centre to the west axis of the pyramid and under a mastaba-like structure with a 32 m × 16 m (105 ft × 52 ft) Tomb. It stands closer to the pyramid than its predecessor’s complex.
In the substructure of the mastaba, following a passage accessed by a vertical shaft, the excavators unearthed a chamber where they found a wooden coffin with the remains of an unidentified two-year-old child. Indeed, the child is not Sekhemkhet himself since he is represented as an adult in reliefs from Wadi Maghara in Sinai. Also found were animal bones, stone vessels, gold jewellery from the Third Dynasty, and traces of a tomb robbery.
Enclosure wall
The enclosure walls had niches similar to the ones on the walls of the Djoser complex and were clad with Tura limestone preserved in the first north wall, as they had been filled with the extension. The walls were about ten meters high. Work on the extension walls may have been halted during the first stages of construction, or else their Tura limestone casing was later stolen.
